UN sets first binding rules for gig workers

The United Nations  International Labor Organization ILO has officially introduced its first set of global rules for gig workers or employers.

The ILO ‌on Friday agreed to adopt the first binding employment standards for platforms offering services such as ride-hailing, food delivery and e-commerce.

These workers typically include those workers who earn income through short-term, flexible, or platform-based jobs such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and freelance digital work.

A total of 406 members voted in favour and eight against, while 36 abstained. Members of the U.N. agency, which promotes international labour rights, include governments, employers and workers.

The agreed ILO convention broadly seeks to extend core labour rights ‌and protections to gig workers, including pay, safety and social protections.

However, some of these protections are linked to employment status, distinguishing between those classified as self-employed and those recognised as employees.

The convention also states that platforms must disclose how automated systems affect workers and allow human involvement in key decisions like account deactivation.

The term “binding rules” suggests that these are not just guidelines or recommendations, but standards that are intended to have legal or regulatory force once adopted or implemented by member countries.

Additionally, the agreement will extend labour protections to hundreds of millions of people worldwide who work through digital platforms, in areas like food delivery, car services and dog walking.

This marks a major development because it represents an effort to establish clearer protections and responsibilities in a sector that has often operated with limited regulation.